Industry welcomes first £100m ‘technical excellence colleges’

More than 40,000 future construction workers across electrical, carpentry and bricklaying will be trained by 2029 at new ‘technical excellence colleges’.

The specialist colleges will work closely with industry employers, existing colleges and other key stakeholders and will be in every region of England to train the workforce needed to support economic growth and deliver the government’s 1.5 million new homes target. 

The government hopes these initiatives will plug skills shortages in the construction industry, backed by a £100m investment, the colleges are part of the drive to develop the domestic workforce and reduce the reliance on overseas workers.

This first wave covers construction, and comes on top of £625 million announced for the sector in March to cover 60,000 training places through foundation apprenticeships, skills bootcamps and other funded construction courses.  

The 10 new colleges are:

• Derby College Group

• Leeds College of Building

• West Suffolk College

• New City College

• City of Sunderland College

• Wigan and Leigh College

• North Kent College

• Exeter College

• Bedford College

• Dudley College of Technology